Acushnet firefighters honor memory of 20-year veteran

Monday

Oct 15, 2007 at 12:01 AM

ACUSHNET — To mark the culmination of Fire Prevention Week, the Russell Street fire station opened its doors and invited the public to honor the memory of the late John Worthington, who served on the force for more than 20 years.

DON CUDDY

ACUSHNET — To mark the culmination of Fire Prevention Week, the Russell Street fire station opened its doors and invited the public to honor the memory of the late John Worthington, who served on the force for more than 20 years.

In front of a large crowd of town residents that included several members of the Worthington family, Fire Chief Kevin A. Gallagher formally commissioned a new fire truck, known as Squad 2, which was dedicated to Capt. Worthington and will carry a bronze plaque displaying his name and the dates of his service.

"This is something we have wanted to do for John for a long time," the chief said, "and now the timing is right."

Mr. Worthington was a member of the fire department from 1965 until his death in 1987 from Lou's Gehrig's disease at the age of 47.

The new $280,000 truck is a state-of-the-art International diesel, according to Acushnet Fire Captain George Pimental.

"It's really well designed for any situation," he said. "It's has its own generator, separate winches on the front and back, and a 1200-gallon-per-minute pump."

In addition the truck comes equipped with extrication tools, the jaws of life and 1000 feet of large diameter hose, as well as a rotating light tower which contains six 1500-watt halogen bulbs.

"That's enough power to light up a football field," Captain Pimental said.

As part of the commissioning ceremony, the new truck was christened by a stream of water sprayed from the decommissioned Engine 2, a 1980 Chevy pumper, which the new vehicle replaces.

Speaking of his late father, Kevin Worthington said: "We're very proud of the impact that my father had on the town and the fact that he's still remembered after all these years."

Fire Prevention Week was held Oct. 7-14 across the country, and a number of SouthCoast fire districts held open houses on Sunday to mark the annual event. Designed to raise public awareness and increase safety preparedness in the home, these activities offered demonstrations, tours of the apparatus and free pizza at fire stations around the region.

Mr. Worthington's sister, Cathleen Worthington Trahan, travelled from her home in Plymouth to attend. Her three sons also returned to Acushnet to be at the ceremony, each wearing one of their grandfather's tie-clips and lapel badges.

Her eldest son, Brandon, currently on active duty with the Air Force, was given special leave by his commander at Shaw AFB in South Carolina to return home for the dedication, in spite of having just recently completed an approved period of leave.

"It's an emotional day, but it's a happy emotional day," she said, clutching a bouquet of flowers presented to her by firefighters.

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